CN101360010A - A method for remote monitoring of set-top boxes based on Internet service station - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a set-top box remote monitoring method based on an Internet service station, the method is to firstly apply for a fixed IP and a domain name for a set-top box server, then put the household set-top box to the long connection with the set-top box server via Internet, and finally log on to the set-top box server by a remote client through a web mode, then both parties can establish connection, therefore, family members (usually the validated users registered and approved) can log on to the set-top box server anytime, anywhere and anyway by only connecting to the Internet, and can access to the household set-top box after being validated of the user name and password, and domestic appliances can be checked and controlled through the set-top box, so as to reach the purpose of remote monitoring.

Description

A method for remote monitoring of set-top boxes based on Internet service station

technical field

The invention belongs to the field of digital home network technology and the field of remote monitoring, in particular to a method for remote monitoring of a set-top box based on an Internet service station.

Background technique

Digital home means that based on computer technology and network technology, various household appliances communicate and exchange data through different interconnection methods to realize "interconnection" between household appliances, so that people can live more conveniently and quickly without leaving home. Acquire information in a timely manner, thereby greatly improving the comfort and entertainment of human living.

IPTV (Interactive Internet TV), cable digital TV, set-top box, computer entertainment center, Internet phone, Internet home appliances, information home appliances and smart home are all the embodiment of digital home. STB (set-top box) is not only to achieve TV Internet access, but also an important part of the comprehensive broadband information network.

The usual method of digital home remote monitoring is: use a fixed IP and assign a fixed IP to each set-top box. In this way, not only need to pay a certain fee but also waste IP resources.

There are also some ways such as accessing the Internet through GPRS, but the cost of GPRS accessing the Internet is high, and there is a problem that the signal cannot be completely covered at the same time, making it impossible to access the network in some places.

In addition, simple remote monitoring can also be realized by using SMS (GSM), but there are also certain defects: the amount of sending and receiving information is small, the information that can be used is limited, and it is not as convenient to operate on a PC.

The TCP/IP protocol is widely used in large-scale network environments such as the Internet. It is a protocol that can support routing, and can cross to other network segments through routing. It is also an effective network protocol for long-distance communication. The TCP connection needs to know the IP and port number of the other party; currently, LAN users access the Internet because they do not have a legal public IP, so they can only use the PAT (Port Address Translation) of the router to map the internal address to a different port of an IP address on the external network. way, and then realize the access to the Internet, for both parties that do not have a legal IP, it is impossible to establish a connection for communication. This solution uses a third-party set-top box server with a legal IP as a transfer to realize the communication between the two parties without public network IP. On this basis, remote monitoring is realized.

Contents of the invention

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a new simple and effective remote monitoring and access method, namely a method for remote monitoring of a set-top box based on an Internet service station in a digital home.

In order to realize the purpose of the invention, the technical scheme adopted is as follows:

A set-top box remote monitoring method based on an Internet service station, the network connection method of the scheme is as follows: first, establish a set-top box server for completing the communication transfer between the client and the system host, and apply for a fixed IP and domain name for the set-top box server; secondly , the set-top box is connected to the Internet through the cable TV network, accesses the set-top box server, and establishes a TCP long connection with it; again, registered and verified legal users can connect to the set-top box server anytime, anywhere and through any means as long as they access the Internet; finally, users use Any remote monitoring device, usually a PC in the local area network, opens the homepage of the STB server, logs in to the STB server after verification of the user name and password, obtains the information of the STB under the user name, and then remotely controls the STB and connects to it conveniently through the Web household appliances for remote monitoring.

Described set-top box server uses HTTPS protocol to communicate with monitoring PC, and whole monitoring method is based on B/S structure, and HTTPS adopts complete socket layer (SSL) as the sublayer of HTTP application layer, and the data transmitted on the network is encrypted, and it supports Use X.509 digital authentication to confirm the identity of the remote monitor, prevent household appliances from being illegally monitored, and improve the security of remote monitoring. There is no need to install any program on the monitoring equipment, as long as there is a browser, so as to realize remote monitoring anytime and anywhere. The remote monitoring terminal equipment is not limited to PC, and the mobile phone can also monitor household appliances when surfing the Internet.

The client and the set-top box are usually located in a local area network, and do not need a fixed legal public network IP. They only need to be able to connect to the Internet, open the remote monitoring website of the set-top box server, and map the internal address to an external network through PAT. Different ports of the IP address are used to achieve Internet access.

Technical characteristics of the present invention are mainly embodied as follows:

1. No fixed public network IP access is required, saving IP resources

LAN users access the Internet because they do not have a legal public IP, so they can only map the internal address to a different port of an IP address on the external network through the PAT of the router, and then realize Internet access. If neither party has a legal IP, then Unable to establish a connection for communication. This solution uses a third party, that is, a set-top box server with a legal IP as a transfer, to realize the communication between the two parties without public network IP.

2. Data resource sharing

The set-top box server supports a parallel mechanism, which can support simultaneous access by multiple clients. This enables multiple set-top boxes to access through the same resource to share data resources.

3. Strong security

The set-top box server is constructed using the HTTPS protocol. HTTPS uses the complete socket layer (SSL) as the sublayer of the HTTP application layer to encrypt the data transmitted on the network to ensure the security of data communication. It supports the use of X.509 digital authentication to The identity of the remote monitor is confirmed, the household appliances are prevented from being illegally monitored, and the security of the remote monitor solution is improved.

4. Strong interactivity, simple implementation and transparent operation

After the user logs in to the server, he can operate the household appliances connected to the set-top box. From the user's point of view, it is as if he directly accesses his own household appliances. The set-top box remote monitoring method based on the Internet service station has the characteristics of fast information transmission and strong interactivity, which reduces the operator's maintenance workload and maintenance costs, and is a reference for the development of a flexible, scalable and practical network monitoring system significance.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network structure of an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart of a method of an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed ways

The present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

A schematic diagram of the network structure of an embodiment of the present invention is shown in Figure 1, a set-top box remote monitoring method based on an Internet service station, characterized in that: a set-top box server for completing the communication transfer between the client and the system host is established, and for The set-top box server applies for a fixed IP and domain name, and the set-top box server translates the control or query commands sent by the client into a format that the system host can recognize, or uploads information such as alarms received by the system host to the client, and the server supports parallel The mechanism, in this way, can support simultaneous access by multiple clients. The server program communicates with the client in a B/S structure. The client does not need to install the program. It can view the status of the set-top box under the user through the browser or send commands to monitor the electrical appliances connected to the set-top box for remote monitoring. Therefore, the set-top box server plays a first role. The role of third-party agents.

The network connection method of the set-top box remote monitoring method based on an Internet service station is as follows: first, set up a set-top box server for completing the communication transfer between the client and the system host, and apply for a fixed IP and domain name for the set-top box server; secondly, the set-top box Connect to the Internet through the cable TV network, access the set-top box server, and establish a TCP long connection with it; again, registered and verified legal users can connect to the set-top box server anytime, anywhere and through any means as long as they access the Internet; finally, users use any remote The monitoring equipment, usually a PC in the local area network, opens the homepage of the set-top box server, logs in to the set-top box server after verification of the user name and password, obtains the information of the user's set-top box, and then remotely controls the set-top box and the household appliances connected to it conveniently through the Web. Realize remote monitoring.

The set-top box server uses the HTTPS protocol to communicate with the monitoring PC, and the whole monitoring method is based on the B/S structure. HTTPS adopts a complete socket layer (SSL) as a sublayer of the HTTP application layer, and encrypts data transmitted on the network to ensure data For communication security, HTTPS determines which resources should be provided by the set-top box server through the Uniform Resource Locator URL (Uniform Resource Locator). It supports the use of X.509 digital authentication to confirm the identity of the remote monitor and prevent household appliances from being illegally monitored , so the security of the remote monitoring solution can be improved. There is no need to install any program on the monitoring equipment, as long as there is a browser, so as to realize remote monitoring anytime, anywhere and in any way. The remote monitoring terminal equipment is not limited to PC, and the mobile phone can also monitor household appliances.

The user and the set-top box are usually located in a certain local area network. As long as they can be connected to the Internet, they do not need a fixed legal public network IP. As long as they can open the remote monitoring website of the set-top box server, the internal address is mapped to an external network through PAT. The way of different ports of IP address, and then realize the visit of Internet.

The following example illustrates the steps of the method: step (1), assuming that a service station with an IP of 202.168.1.100 and a domain name of http://www.mystb.com has been applied for the set-top box server, and then the server program is written. Step (2), the home set-top box is connected to the Internet through the TV network, establishes a TCP long connection with it through the above-mentioned set-top box server address, and regularly sends link detection packets to test the working status of the link. If there is no response for 3 consecutive link detection packets, Then it is considered that the link has failed, and the TCP/IP connection is disconnected, otherwise, it will be in a long connection state after starting the server. Step (3), if the user has not yet logged in the user name of the set-top box server, it must be registered at the server first and has been reviewed, and the user who has registered and passed the review visits the address of the set-top box service station through a browser after identity verification, and establishes a connection with it. In step (4), the user checks the status of the set-top box through browser operations, and sends a request operation command to the set-top box server. Step (5), after the server receives the instruction, it forwards the instruction to the set-top box corresponding to the user, that is, the user specifies the device ID to be monitored when registering. Step (6): After receiving the user command, the set-top box parses the command. If it is a control command, it controls the connected home appliance and returns the control result; if it is a monitoring command, it returns the working status data of the home appliance. In step (7), the set-top box server forwards the data returned by the set-top box to the remote monitoring client. In step (8), the user receives the data returned by the set-top box server, that is, knows the monitoring result, and completes a monitoring operation.

The flow chart of an embodiment of the present invention is as shown in Figure 2, and this scheme is by monitoring user, the set-top box server of Internet, set-top box three parts, and this figure expresses the flow process of this method from the interactive angle between three parts, three Parts are physically independent, but logically require data interaction; among them, the dotted box indicates that this action is a necessary condition for remote monitoring, and the action has been completed when the user executes the monitoring. To explain, only after the Internet set-top box server is established, can a series of actions such as server authentication of user legitimacy be performed; The connection is successful, and then the set-top box enters the monitoring state. After these actions are completed, the following series of actions can be performed.

First of all, for the user on the monitoring end, the user logs in through the browser, and then the server verifies the legitimacy of the user. If it is legal, the login to the server is successful. Otherwise, log in again or register a new user; the user who successfully logs in can send a monitoring message at this time. The command is sent to the server; secondly, for the set-top box server on the Internet, the monitoring command of the user will be forwarded at this time; again, the home set-top box parses the monitoring command after receiving the command, judges whether it is a monitoring command or a control command, and if it is a control command, then execute Home appliance control action, feedback execution result, if it is a monitoring command, it will directly return the home appliance running status data; finally, for the set-top box server on the Internet, the data returned by the receiver set-top box will be forwarded to the user interface at this time, so that the user is completed The process of controlling home appliances or viewing the status of the home environment through a browser page.

Claims (3)

1, a kind of set-top box remote monitoring method based on Internet service station, it is characterized in that adopting following network connection mode: at first, set up a set-top box server that is used to complete client and system host communication relay, and apply for fixed IP and for the set-top box server domain name; secondly, the set-top box is connected to the Internet through the cable TV network, accesses the set-top box server, and establishes a TCP long connection with it; thirdly, a legal user who has registered and passed the audit can connect to the set-top box server anytime, anywhere and through any means as long as he accesses the Internet; finally , the user uses any remote monitoring equipment, usually a PC in the LAN, to open the homepage of the STB server, log in to the STB server after verification of the user name and password, obtain the information of the STB under the user name, and then conveniently remotely control the STB through the Web And connected household appliances to realize remote monitoring. 2, a kind of set-top box remote monitoring method based on Internet service station according to claim 1, it is characterized in that described set-top box server uses HTTPS protocol to communicate with remote monitoring equipment, and whole monitoring method is based on B/S structure, on monitoring equipment There is no need to install any program, as long as there is a browser, the remote monitoring equipment is not limited to PC, and the monitoring of household appliances can also be realized by surfing the Internet with mobile phones. 3. A set-top box remote monitoring method based on an Internet service station according to claim 1, characterized in that said remote monitoring equipment and home set-top boxes are usually located in a certain local area network, and do not need a fixed legal public network IP, as long as they can be connected to Internet, just open the remote monitoring URL of the set-top box server.

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